Humanitarian aspects of engineering
Re: “Engineering’s soft side,” Sept. 30 news story.
I was pleased to see your article about the students and programs at Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado at Boulder that teach the humanitarian aspects of engineering, but I was disappointed that the story made no mention of Engineers Without Borders-USA. EWB-USA, a non-profit headquartered in Longmont, was also founded by Dr. Bernard Amadei, and provides the structure and support for students and professionals across the country to develop and implement the kinds of projects you described. Through this organization, students can combine their passion for helping others and their engineering expertise long after graduation.
Thank you for drawing attention to this work, and for showing that education that appeals to both hearts and minds really can make a difference.
Zoe Kircos, Boulder
Patrolling the borders
Re: “Lawmakers target immigrants,” Oct. 4 news story.
Twenty years ago, impoverished people risked their lives to scale the Berlin Wall, attracted by the political and economic freedoms offered by a developed power. We celebrated when that wall came down. Yet now, here in America, demagogues call for more walls and more restrictions on people who are also risking their lives to cross a wall and a border, so that they too may enjoy greater political and economic freedoms.
The three Colorado lawmakers who are touring the border in Arizona would do well to remember the Berlin Wall, and the words of Emma Lazarus, inscribed on the base of our Statue of Liberty:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Michael Cohen, Boulder
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Re: “Canada at peace with its border,” Oct. 4 Diane Carman column.
Calling three of our state representatives “pistol-packing vigilantes,” Diane Carman claims that the “only immigrants likely to be influenced by macho exhibitionism are the engineers, scientists and innovators our economy desperately needs who will continue to flock to Canada rather than face hostility here.” I have difficulty believing that men and women who possess these skills and backgrounds would be crossing illegally into the United States. I’m sure they would rather seek to respect their country of choice by following the laws and required processes in place for legal immigration.
We wouldn’t have thousands of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border if there were true vigilantes on patrol. Real vigilantes on our border would create a no-man’s land that would rival the Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe. Calling our state representatives vigilantes while they seek answers regarding illegal immigration firsthand in Arizona is doing exactly what you claim they are doing – stirring up irrational fears and pandering to bigotry.
It’s time to stop calling names. Instead, let’s support and applaud our representatives who are seeking answers to the growing problems that illegal immigration is causing the state and the nation.
David L. Kelly, Colorado Springs
Proposed increase in RTD bus fares
RTD’s need for a fare increase comes as no surprise, as most of us are looking closely at our budgets with the increase in fuel prices. However, I am disappointed that the board has not proposed to distribute these costs among all its patrons.
This proposal increases only local fares; regional and express fares will not change. Longer commutes take greater amounts of fuel. Patrons of Route U from Pine Junction to the Denver Tech Center, a trip of about 40 miles, would generate no new funds, but my 3/4 mile down Colfax and a friend’s 4 miles down 12th Avenue would yield 50 cents.
The discount fare is increasing by 25 percent. Seniors, Medicare recipients, those with disabilities, and youths are often most dependent on public transportation for financial reasons or inability to drive. The people with disabilities I work with on a daily basis often struggle to make ends meet on a fixed income. Can those eligible for discounts afford an increase when already they struggle to afford food, rent, utilities and prescriptions? And the greatest increase is the Teen Pass: more than 30 percent!
A fare increase of some kind is inevitable with the increased cost of fuel, and I support this. However, I do not support the current proposal. I encourage RTD to put forth a proposal collecting the cost of fuel from all patrons equally.
Tori Ford, Denver
Questions about court nominee Harriet Miers
Re: “Bush taps top aide as justice,” Oct. 4 news story.
Based upon the sketchy information available early in Harriet Miers’ confirmation process, her background invites and even demands further inquiry. I am concerned with the point of view she brings to the bench. She has consistently represented corporate interests (large law firm), or been in the seat of executive power (bar president), or advising executive power (duty in the White House). She may represent – and even epitomizes – the exercise, management and extension of power.
Our Constitution begins with the phrase “We the people” and includes the protection of the individual by the Bill of Rights (even though they were the first amendments). It is a document that only grants specific powers to the federal government. Miers’ entire career seems to bespeak a point of view that may be unsupportive if not contrary to the approach necessary for a balanced interpretation of the Constitution.
John H. Clough, Littleton
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It sure is fun seeing the reactions of the politicians to the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Those to the right of right think she is not a conservative at all. Some in the middle think she’s not qualified because she hasn’t been a judge. Those to the left of left don’t know what to make of her.
I’ll bet George W. Bush is sitting there laughing at all these bewildered folk. Two things are certain: Bush is committed to placing conservative judges in federal courts and the Supreme Court. And he has known and worked with Miers for a long time – so she is a conservative.
Another Supreme Court victory for President Bush? Count on it!
Dan Callahan, Centennial
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Re: “Miers can anticipate scrutiny, skepticism,” Oct. 4 editorial.
In your editorial, you quote Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, who said, in your words, that Harriet Miers “appears to be someone who will interpret the law, not create it.” This is what President Bush says over and over. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said this, and some went further and said that a person’s religious faith, values and political ideology should not be considered when deciding whether or not to confirm one nominated for the Supreme Court.
Those nominated refuse to answer these questions, but personal views influence how they interpret laws and the Constitution. Whenever one interprets laws and the Constitution, one brings distinctive life experiences – values, religious faith, prejudices and political ideology – which color how one interprets laws and the Constitution. It is naive to believe that one can be completely objective, hard as one may try. In many cases, one’s perception is not reality; however, decisions are made based on one’s perception of reality.
Tom English, Denver
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